In the wake of Facebook’s current privacy debacle, many online commentators have been urging MySpace to make a bid to attract disaffected Facebook users. Don’t hold your breath. The stigma of the MySpace brand – due to its convoluted, screeching user profiles – is such that to grab any market share, the site would need a major jaw-dropping marketing and PR campaign. Instead, the site posted a simple, single statement on the issue.
Talk about missed opportunity! This blog has previously echoed the famous military strategy of Napoleon: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” But that excellent advice has nothing to with seizing the goldmine of business waiting in front of you – indeed, business that you once had!
The PR tactical considerations are almost endless, and it leaves one to wonder:
Why hasn’t MySpace … done a massive social media blitz to lampoon the privacy problems Facebook has had since its inception?
Why hasn’t MySpace … produced a video showing the ease of its privacy options compared to Facebook, and then push that video to go viral?
Why hasn’t MySpace … engaged tech reporters and key influencers in the privacy debate to educate them about the site’s simple and user-friendly privacy policy?
Why hasn’t MySpace … partnered with critics, academics and business leaders to establish thought leadership and lead a much-needed global discussion on evolving online privacy standards?
Why hasn’t MySpace … mined its existing database of dormant accountholder emails and sent them a nice, friendly note asking them to revisit a “new and improved” site?
Customers don’t just leave one business for another without understanding why the alternative is more attractive. MySpace apparently is assuming that Facebook users automatically know about the latest version of its offerings. Big error.
